Facilitating critical thinking about the business of business

Reflection #3 on Occupy Wall Street

If the Occupy movement is to succeed then it must lead us to understand that the economic system is not broken but that it is fundamentally flawed. What we are experiencing is nothing but an ill-conceived system taken to its inevitable conclusion: The privatization of society and the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots.

In the existing system our choices range between unfairness and fraud, from a little greed to a lot of greed. Greed won’t allow itself to be regulated: Such an idea runs counter to its very essence!

Thus, if the Occupy movement allows itself to be colonized by a political party—beware of the demagogues—then it will render itself ineffective toward calling for and facilitating fundamental change.

If we are to have a serious conversation, then that conversation can’t begin with the aim of fixing a broken system, it must begin with the intent of revolutionizing the system. What is required is a majority that continually challenges the status quo by asking what if things don’t have to be as they are.

You see no matter how corrupt the system, it does require the cooperation of the people adversely impacted for the system to continue as it is. So squelching or disparaging protesters increases the likelihood that cooperation will continue. However, once a critical mass stops going along with the way things are, then what can be becomes probable. Hence the power of non-violent movements!